Archive for the WHO KNEW? Category

Transracial professor bud Robert Livingston of Northwest University just completed a very interesting study that suggests that African American businessmen are far more likely to succeed in corporate America if they have a baby face!

In his just-released study, Prof. Livingston suggests that the sweet, youthful characteristics of a baby face — often considered negatives in White corporate America — actually benefit Black men.

The study looked at high-profile Black CEOS — including Clarence Otis, Jr., CEO of Darden Restaurants (above) — and determined that baby faces helped connote a less-threatening demeanor for Black business men that led to their greater acceptance in the work-place. Interestingly, the opposite holds true for White Ceos.

“If you’re a white male, you can exhibit anger, pound your fist, make ultimatums … African-Americans have to adopt a kinder, gentler style of leadership,” Livingston said. “The same sorts of behaviors that are effective for white males can’t be utilized effectively by black males.”

Page Six has a lovely post today about a recent meeting between Mayor Bloomberg and a clutch of his billionaire friends on May 5th in NYC to discuss the things that billionaires talk about: Philanthropy, big-business, the economic crisis, their homes.

While the confab was productive — and heavily-hyped as NYC’s mogul get-together of the season — it was actually a mere appetizer compared to May’s real power broker-fest, the recent Bilderberg event in Athens.

Indeed folks such as U.S. State Department number two James Steinberg, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, World Bank President Robert Zoellick, European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso, Queen Sofia of Spain and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands were all in attendance.

And their presence warranted some top-tier security: According to locals, a Greek navy launch and boats carrying elite divers could be seen a few meters off the coast of the peninsula where the hotel stands. Greek newspapers said the group had also asked for the protection of two F-16 warplanes and a police helicopter.

Intense!

For those of you, like us, wondering just what the Bilderberg Group is actually all about, it is a 50-something year old affiliation of some 130 members in the top banking/industry/political arenas who come together each year at fancy hotels worldwide and discuss the current “condition” of the planet.

Unsurprisingly, the Bilderbergs are ripe for conspiracy theories and loud talk of global domination.

Once upon a time, Carole Marley used to jokingly say “yes” when asked if reggae superstar Bob Marley was her cousin. But it turns out that Ms. Marley — who lives in the UK — is indeed related to the rasta king!

The pair apparently share a common great-grandfather — Albert Thomas Marley — who immigrated to Jamaica in the late 19th century. Albert’s son related and mated with a young Afro-Jamaican woman and eventually young Bob was born.

As for Carole Marley, she’s stoked to learn of her famous lineage — though admits to only listening to Bob Marley once in her lifetime.

This is another one of those “can’t make this stuff up” pieces. It was reported today that scientists in Spain studying urban air pollution found not just the usual melange of smog and grit, but air throughout Madrid and Barcelona (above) filled with some five major types of illicit narcotics.

Yesterday we were reading an article from our buds over at Towleroad about an unfortunate case of pre-meditated HIV-infection in New Zealand. The article talked about a recent case spike in the Antipodes and highlighted the ethnicity of the alleged infector — a “fair-skinned pakeha”.
Huh?

We immediately got ourselves onto Google where we learned that Pakeha is the colloquial term for a New Zealander of European heritage.

Who knew?

The word is Maori — Obvi — and dates back to the late 18th century. While Pakeha typically refers to white folk, it can also be used to describe anyone of non-Maori heritage.

I see.

Most cheerfully, the word has no negative connotations. Finally, a race-based term that actually means something positive.